Be Aloha: 14 Ways
June 20, 2019
“Aloha has become a very universal word, heard all around the world. But what does this word mean beyond the greeting we so often hear?” asks Lahela Chandler Correa, co-founder of Aloha Movement Kauai in the forward of the “Aloha: What it Means to My ‘Ohana.” This book, based on Correa’s life lessons of Aloha and written for elementary school children by Aloha Movement co-founder Ann Hettinger, has been used for curriculum in local public schools and expanded into three editions for lower elementary, upper elementary and adult. It outlines 14 different meanings of Aloha and how these lessons can be applied in everyday life. “It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, blue or green, I believe we all have Aloha,” Correa writes. “Aloha is considered the gift of the Hawaiian people to the world.”
Timbers Kauai is proud to partner with Living Aloha to share this insight into local tradition and culture with our residents, guests, and friends.
Aloha is Kokua
The meaning of kokua: This means to help in any way you can when needed. That may be to help people, plants, places or things.
Kokua as expressed in everyday life: Helping deliver food to people so they don’t go hungry (pololi). It may be a scientist whose helpfulness (kokua) extends to protecting plants and animals and keeps them safe.
What kokua means to you: “Kokua means giving without expecting anything in return and doing it out of the kindness of your heart and not because you’re trying to achieve something or to get something for yourself, but because you want to take care of others. Hawaiian is such an elegant and beautiful language, but it’s also a way to conceptualize this philosophy. Being in the hospitality industry, most of what you do revolves around giving. I don’t think there’s any faking that. I get a lot of enjoyment out of giving and making people feel great, and that’s what fuels me. I want to make them smile, give them a great experience, I want them to have a great memory. I believe that is kokua.” Sean Appel, Food and Beverage Director.
